One goal of I PROMOTE-IL is to promote and execute innovation in maternal health service delivery. We collaborated with several partners to implement the following innovation projects over the five-year federal project period.
I PROMOTE-IL provided mini-grants to the state’s ten regional Administrative Perinatal Centers to support them in providing obstetric hemorrhage and maternal hypertension education, trainings, and consultation to their network hospitals.
In addition, we partnered with the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative to collect and analyze data from birthing hospitals across the state to understand levels of provider training on maternal hypertension and obstetric hemorrhage.
I PROMOTE-IL collaborated with the state’s Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program to assess maternal health training needs among current home visitors. I PROMOTE-IL supported Start Early to assess current home visiting training curriculums and subsequently develop a training program for home visitors focused on maternal health. Together, these partners implemented and evaluated the training among MIECHV staff during 2023.
You can download a one page overview of the MIECHV Prgram here.
I PROMOTE-IL partnered with Illinois DocAssist to expand their psychiatric training, education, and consultation services to maternal health providers across the state to address perinatal behavioral health.
You can download a one page overview of Illinois DocAssist here.
I PROMOTE-IL supported the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative’s Birth Equity Initiative which engaged hospital teams to implement strategies to address maternal health disparities and promote birth equity.
Specifically, this initiative promoted birth equity by:
- Screening for and addressing the social determinants of health during prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care
- Utilizing race/ethnicity medical record and quality data
- Engaging patients, support partners, and communities in patient-centered, respectful care
- Engaging and educating providers, nurses, and staff to improve birth equity
You can download an overview of the Birth Equity Initiative here.
I PROMOTE-IL implemented a two-generation approach to postpartum care by establishing the UI Health Two-Generation Clinic. In this model of care, women and their infants are scheduled together at the same time with the same provider. Comprehensive care includes primary care, management of chronic conditions, well-child visits, counseling, psychiatry, lactation, care coordination, parenting education and support, and connection to community resources. Care is available to all family members including fathers.
The UI Health Two-Generation Clinic has two locations. The first location opened in October 2020 at the UI Health Outpatient Care Center. The second location opened in December 2021 at the South Loop Physicians Group. The UI Health Two-Generation Clinic serve patients predominately from the west and south sides of Chicago.
Benefits of Care at the Two-Generation Clinic
- Healthcare appointments that are efficient for families because mothers and children are scheduled together simultaneously.
- A comprehensive approach to care with a focus on the health, behavioral health, and the social needs of every family.
- Assistance with connecting families to needed resources such as transportation, housing, and other social and legal services.
- Care coordination and management, including assistance with navigating the healthcare system and accessing specialty care services.
- Specialized care after pregnancy, including management of chronic disease.
- A focus on fostering children’s health and development.
Learn more about how to implement Two-Generation postpartum care by exploring our toolkit.